RENT: Genderswapped
by Wickedly Hope Pancake
Summary: Basically the same plot of the musical (not the movie, the MUSICAL) only with the character's genders changed. Trigger warning for drug use, mentions of suicide and self-harm.
1. Opening (Tune up 1)

**So, I wanted to write a fic where all the characters swapped gender roles because well...why not? If it's horrible I will not continue, but please let me know!**

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><p>Mavis Cohen was sitting in her room of the apartment that she and her best friend Rachel shared, fiddling with the lens of her camera. Finally getting the focus where she wanted it, she picked it up and walked out of the room, pointing the camera around their loft.<p>

"December twenty-fifth, nine AM, Eastern Standard Time." She narrated, turning the camera on herself.

"From here on in, I shoot without a script. See if anything comes of it…instead of my old shit."

She turned the camera on her roommate, Rachel, who was currently attempting to tune her Fender guitar. She was wearing a worn, green sweatshirt and dark red plaid lounge pants, her messy, dirty-blonde hair falling haphazardly into her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Filming you, stupid. Now smile."

Rachel flipped her off, not looking up from her tuning. Mavis kept rolling.

"First shot Rachel, tuning the Fender guitar she hasn't played in a year. She's just coming back from half a year of withdrawal."

"You talking to me?" Rachel mumbled, picking at the strings of her guitar.

"Not at all…" Mavis grinned, walking around the table where Rachel was seated and getting a side-shot of the blonde.

"Tell the folks at home what you're doing, Rachel."

"Shut up, Cohen."

Suddenly, their phone rang. Mavis nearly dropped her camera, before stopping rolling and laying it down on the table and walking over to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Chestnuts roasting..."

The person on the other line started, but Mavis recognized who it was instantly.

"Carol!"

Carol laughed.

"Hey, I'm downstairs. Buzz me up, will you?"

"Sure thing. See ya." Mavis hung up, turning to face Rachel.

"Carol's here, I'm gonna buzz her up."

"Have fun, don't give a shit." Rachel muttered.

The phone rang again, and Mavis picked up the receiver.

"…Hello?"

"Ho, Ho, Ho."

"Allison, hey…" Mavis covered up the receiver before swearing.

"I'm on my way!"

"Great…" Mavis covered the receiver again.

"Fuck."

"So guys, I'm gonna need the rent."

"The…rent?"

"Yeah, last year's rent. I let it slide, remember?"

"Uh…"

Rachel, who had been listening to the conversation, lay her guitar on the table and walked over to Mavis.

"Who is it?"

"Let slide? You said that we were golden!" Mavis yelled over the phone, before covering the receiver and looking over at her roommate.

"It's Allison."

Rachel looked annoyed.

"Tell her to fuck off. I never liked her anyway."

"I can't do that!" Mavis said, looking appalled.

Rachel rolled her eyes, taking the phone from Mavis.

"Well, I can. Go down and buzz up Carol, and I'll deal with Little Miss Bitchface."

"…Hello?!" Allison's voice yelled over the receiver.

"…Fine." Mavis handed Rachel the phone, pulling on her red sports jacket and grabbing her black-and-white striped scarf from the back of a chair.

"Don't do anything too stupid, okay?"

Rachel scoffed as Mavis walked out of the apartment. Swearing under her breath, she held the receiver to her ear.

"…Hey, Bitch. It's Rachel…"


	2. Today 4 U

**Okay, so...here's a list of who I thought everyone would(should) be played by! (and if they were all miraculously around the same age)**

**Mavis(Mark): Zooey Deschanel**

**Rachel(Roger): Jenette Mcurdy (NO JUDGING)**

**Carol(Collins): LaChanze**

**Angel: Wilson Jermain Heredia**

**Manson: John Barrowman (Again, NO JUDGING!)**

**Jackson: Derek Williams**

**Allison: Brittany Snow  
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**And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!**

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><p>A few minutes later, Mavis and Carol walked through the door; each carrying a brown paper shopping bag, and followed by someone that Rachel had never seen before.<p>

Carol took the bags and set them down on the table, before walking over and giving Rachel a hug.

"Hey, girl. See you still haven't left the house."

"I was waiting for you. Surprise."

Carol scoffed, before pulling a box out of one of the bags and tossing it to Rachel.

The blonde caught it, grinning.

"Captain Crunch. You remembered!"

"No shit I remembered! You think I was gonna forget about my girls?"

Mavis, who had long since forgotten about the food, was sitting on the table next to Rachel, adjusting the lens of her camera. She looked up, starting to record.

"Hey Carol! Smile for the camera!"

Carol rolled her eyes, before pulling a bottle of Stoli and three paper cups out of one of the bags.

"Merry Christmas, Bitches!"

Rachel's jaw dropped, as Carol opened the bottle and pouring her a cup.

"How the heck did you swing this?"

" _I _didn't. It was all thanks to my girl Angel here." Carol said, leaning in and kissing the new woman.

"Mavis, Rachel, meet the lovely Angel Dumott Schunard."

Rachel turned her camera on Angel, who struck a pose and blew a kiss in the direction of the camera.

Mavis laughed, keeping the film rolling.

Rachel squinted, taking a sip from her cup of Stoli and leaning against the wall.

"Soo…how'd you two lovebirds meet?"

Angel wrapped her arms around the philosopher's neck.

"I was walking down Avenue C one night when I found her wandering along the street, drunk as a skunk. I took her back to my place and…well, we hit it off."

Carol blushed, shaking her head to try and convince them otherwise.

Rachel laughed.

"Sounds about right."

Carol shot her a dirty look, and Angel rolled her eyes in the direction of Mavis's camera; which was still rolling.

The lights flickered, and Mavis looked up from her camera.

"…What the?'

And then, the lights went out.

"Fuck!" Rachel mumbled, crumpling her paper cup and throwing it across the loft

Carol, who was holding the Stoli, laughed and took a swig from the bottle.

"Happy Birthday Jesus."


	3. You'll see

Angel looked around, before reaching into her purse and pulling out a lighter.

"What happened?"

Mavis, who was over at the fuse box with a flashlight, shrugged.

"Heck if I know. None of the fuses are working. I mean, usually when the power goes out I can get at least _one _of them to."

"Lemme see." Rachel got up and walked over to the fuse box and began hitting it repeatedly.

Mavis just stood back, staring at her roommate.

"Oh yeah, _that's _gonna work."

The blonde turned to face her.

"Shut up, Cohen! Who asked you?"

"Woah, Rachel. Calm down." Carol said, defending the filmmaker.

"It's just a power outage. Nothing to freak out about."

"Fine. Whatever."

She gave the power box one last whack for good measure, before turning around and sitting down on the couch beside Carol and Angel.

Just then, they heard the lock clicking. Mavis froze, Rachel jumped up from the couch, and Angel grabbed what looked like drumsticks out of her purse.

Carol looked confused.

"Uh…besides me and you two, who else has the keys to the apartment?"

Rachel looked over at Mavis, who held up her hands defensively.

"Okay, okay! So Manson _might _still have the key, too."

Angel put down her drumsticks.

"Who's Manson?"

Mavis facepalmed, and Carol began clarifying.

"He's a performance artist who Mavis used to date. He also used to live here with us, along with…Oh shit…"

"What?" Mavis looked confused, before it dawned on her as well.

"Ohhh…"

Angel grinned.

"Ah, I believe I'm missing something…"

"Their old roommate, who just happens to be their landlord now."

Rachel looked over at the door, which opened to reveal a short, perky, dark-haired woman.

"Allison Coffin. Yippity-Fucking-Do."

Mavis grimaced.

"Heeey, Allison…"

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late, this bum wouldn't get off my Range Rover. Kept yelling something about an 'Honest Living' or something…"

Rachel, Carol, Angel and Mavis all shared a look.

"…Squeegee Man."

"So he has a name, then."

Allison scoffed, before walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Carol like she was still living with them, putting her feet up on the table.

"Nice to see you too, Allison." Carol muttered.

"Thanks." She remarked, obviously not picking up on the sarcasm.

"So, the rent…"

Rachel crossed her arms.

"Suck it, we're broke."

"And you broke your word!" Mavis stated.

"What's with the power outage, anyway?"

Allison laughed.

"Guys, I'm serious about the rent. Before I was being _nice, _but_-_"

"_Nice? _You said we were _golden!" _Mavis repeated.

"Remember? When you bought the building? We were roommates?"

Allison rolled her eyes.

"How could I forget? You, me, Carol and _Manson. _How is the drama queen, anyway?"

Mavis lowered her eyes to her scuffed-up converse, not wanting to dive deeper into the subject.

"…He's performing tomorrow night."

"Typical. You still his production manager?"

"Uh…two days ago I was bumped."

Allison looked intrigued.

"You still dating him?"

Mavis huffed.

"…Last month I was dumped."

"He's in _love._" Rachel said, leaning over and making kissing faces.

Mavis glared at her. If looks could kill, the blonde would've fallen dead on the spot.

Allison laughed.

"He's got a new girl?" She asked, prodding Mavis with her elbow, who shot her a death glare.

"Well…No."

"What's her name?"

"…Jackson." Rachel and Mavis said together.

Allison looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes grew wide. She burst out laughing, and Carol looked scornful.

"Way to be supportive, Allison."

She snorted, in an attempt to stop laughing.

"You know, I always thought that he was gay! Most actors are, you know."

"Allison, Honey," Rachel interjected, her voice dripping with faux sweetness.

"Do us all a favor: shut the fuck up."

Allison looked offended, but she soon bounced right back.

"About the rent…there _is _a way that you won't have to pay."

"I knew it." Rachel scoffed.

"What is it?"

"Convince Manson to cancel his protest."

"…Yeah, good luck with that." Mavis said. It was obvious that she still had a thing for him.

"Why not just…get an injunction or call the cops, or something?"

"My husband Benny did, and they're on standby. But our investors would rather we handled it quietly."

"You can't just quietly wipe out an entire tent city and then go home and watch 'It's A Wonderful Life' on TV!" Rachel stated, looking ready to punch her lights out.

Carol held her back.

"Uh, thanks for stopping by and all…but, shouldn't you be heading back home? I bet that husband of yours is waiting for you."

"The rent-"

Carol and Rachel were practically pushing her out the door.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get right on it..."

"But-"

"_Bye,_ Allison." Carol said, pushing her out and closing the door.

Angel, who was still sitting on the couch, looked over at Mavis.

"Well…she seemed _nice._"

Rachel laughed, taking another swig from the bottle of Stoli.

"Yeah, fucking nice my ass."


	4. You'll See(2)

After they'd kicked Allison out of the apartment, Carol and Rachel went to sit back down on the couch, alongside Mavis and Angel.

Carol looked at her watch.

"Oh, we've got to get going!" She said, looking over at Angel.

"The Life Support meeting, when does it start?"

"Ten-Thirty. Don't worry, we'll be just in time." Angel said, turning to Rachel and Mavis.

"Life Support's a group for people coping with life. It's not just for people with AIDS, either. Anyone's welcome."

"Thanks, I-" The filmmaker was interrupted by the phone, which immediately went to voicemail.

"SPEAK."

"Hey, Mavis? It's Manson. Baby, listen, I hired Jackson as my new production manager, but he doesn't know what the heck he's doing. There's-"

Mavis hastily picked up the phone.

"Manson, hey…"

Carol looked over at Rachel.

"She's still hooked."

"Majorly." Rachel nodded, polishing off the bottle of Stoli.

Mavis hung up, looking sheepish.

"Uh, Manson's having some trouble with his electrical equipment. He, um, wants me to come down and help out."

Carol grinned.

"Girl, you've got it bad."

Mavis looked annoyed, as she grabbed her jacket and scarf and put them on.

"Y-Yeah, well, whatever. I-I'm gonna head down to the lot…"

"Have _fun._" Rachel said, winking.

Mavis grabbed her camera bag, fighting the urge to throw it at her.

"So Mavis, we'll see you at the Life Support meeting?" Angel asked.

"Oh, yeah. Just as soon as I help out Manson."

Angel nodded.

"Rachel?"

"I'm not much company, you'll find."

"Behave!" Mavis scolded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing her bike from the corner.

"I-I've got to go. I'll see you guys later."

Rachel flipped her off, before grabbing her guitar from the table and strumming out a few chords.

Angel waved, and Carol grinned.

"Good luck, hon. You're gonna need it."

Mavis, who was halfway out the door, grumbled.

"Gee, thanks."


End file.
